Ryan McCandless
Introduction
Father Ryan A. McCandless, a 44-year-old priest of the Catholic Diocese of Salina in Kansas, was arrested on July 22, 2026, on three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child — charges alleging that between July and September 2025 he sexually abused a 6-year-old child in Belleville, Kansas. The arrest came at a residence in Wichita, executed by Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents assisted by the Sedgwick County Fugitive Warrant Unit, roughly ten months after the Republic County Sheriff’s Office first requested the KBI’s help securing it.
The Diocese of Salina had suspended McCandless from ministry when it became aware of the reported incidents, and said he was “immediately removed from all public priestly ministry upon notice of the allegation.”
Background Information
McCandless was a priest of the Diocese of Salina, the Catholic diocese covering northwest and north-central Kansas, and at the time of his removal served as pastor of three parishes in Republic County: St. Edward in Belleville, St. George in Munden, and St. Isidore in Cuba. His assignment history, per the diocese, spanned a total of ten parishes and Catholic education centers across the state — including the Comeau Catholic Campus Center at Fort Hays State University, St. Isidore’s Catholic Student Center at Kansas State University, and Manhattan Catholic Schools, a pre-K through grade 8 parochial school serving some 300 students.
The allegations at the center of the criminal case involve a child aged 6, in the Belleville community where he pastored St. Edward parish, allegedly abused between July and September 2025. The Republic County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance on September 15, 2025 — roughly two months into the window the charges describe — and the investigation ran for ten more months before the arrest.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged; removed from ministry; presumption of innocence. McCandless faces three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The charges are allegations in a criminal complaint, not adjudicated findings, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
On July 22, 2026, shortly after 5 p.m., KBI agents took McCandless into custody at a residence in Wichita, assisted by the Sedgwick County Fugitive Warrant Unit. The KBI said the 44-year-old priest was wanted on three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The charges allege that between July and September 2025, McCandless sexually abused a 6-year-old child in Belleville, Kansas.
The alleged acts involved “lewd fondling or touching of a child under 14 years of age,” according to a complaint obtained by OSV News from the Republic County Courthouse. If proven, each of the charges carries a sentence of up to life in prison, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years “and/or a fine of up to $500,000.”
The Diocese of Salina’s response preceded the arrest: the KBI said the diocese suspended McCandless from ministry when it was made aware of the reported incidents. In a July 22 statement, the diocese said it “remains steadfast in its commitment to the protection of children, the safety of our communities, and the pastoral care of survivors,” and confirmed it is “fully cooperating with the investigation being conducted by the Republic County Sheriff’s Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.”
The diocese detailed the removal: McCandless “was immediately removed from all public priestly ministry upon notice of the allegation” and “was not permitted to celebrate Mass, perform sacraments, or engage in any pastoral duties while the matter was under investigation.” The diocese added: “He will remain removed from ministry unless and until he is fully cleared of the allegations by all the appropriate civil, legal, and ecclesiastical authorities.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
The arrest of a sitting parish pastor on child-sex charges in the small communities of Republic County — Belleville, Munden, and Cuba — drew coverage through Catholic news channels and Kansas media, with the KBI’s public release and the diocese’s statement establishing the facts. The diocese’s disclosure that it had suspended him when the reports surfaced, before the arrest, became part of the public record of the case.
Following the arrest, McCandless was booked into the Sedgwick County Detention Facility in Wichita and, as of July 23, remained at the county’s main jail pending transfer to Republic County — where Belleville is located — for prosecution. The Republic County Courthouse confirmed on July 23 that he had not yet been transferred to county custody.
The three parishes he led entered the case without their pastor, with the diocese’s removal order covering every element of priestly ministry: no Mass, no sacraments, no pastoral duties.
Current Status
McCandless faces three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child in Republic County and was awaiting transfer from Sedgwick County custody to face prosecution. He is removed from all public priestly ministry in the Diocese of Salina indefinitely — the removal stands “unless and until he is fully cleared of the allegations by all the appropriate civil, legal, and ecclesiastical authorities,” a bar that the pending criminal charges make effectively permanent for the duration of the case.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A priesthood spanning ten assignments across Kansas — campus ministry at two state universities, parochial school work, and a triple-parish pastorate — is suspended indefinitely at the moment of the charges. The exposure is existential on both tracks: the criminal charges each carry a mandatory minimum of 25 years if proven, and the ecclesiastical removal has no endpoint short of full clearance by civil and church authorities alike. For the Diocese of Salina, the case joins the long record of priest-abuse prosecutions in which the institutional response — suspension upon notice, cooperation with investigators, public statement — is documented alongside the charges.
Sources
- OSV News, “Kansas priest arrested for alleged abuse of 6-year-old,” July 23, 2026. source